Alice, Blue
by Jaehn
Summary: Alice dreams of a ruined castle, she dreams of a mad, wonderful land. Alice dreams of home. Most peculiar, Alice dreams.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, no exceptions. Don't sue the poor college kid.

A/N: Please, stay with me on this. It's going to take a little bit to explain everything. Yes, there are some random inclusions not canon from either movie or book. All will be explained, trust me. Also this is unbeta'd, so all mistakes are mine. On to the story!

* * *

_Alice stepped out of the Woods to a ruin of a once grand castle. Everything was shades of blue, like Marmoreal's whiteness. The ruins of spires and walls, parapets and doors and windows. Colored window glass glinted like a shattered rainbow across the rubble, jagged pieces still clinging like broken teeth along half collapsed walls._

_Once magnificent gardens are overwild and dying - strangled by death and neglect. The stone path she walked along was broken and missing pieces to was had to have been a beautiful and intricate design._

_An inexplicable, all consuming sorrow settled in her soul, as Alice walked slowly up the center of the ceiling-less throne hall. Standing before a lonely, bloody and almost defeated chair something like true desolation gripped the blue-eyed girl and she turned to her companion. She was asking something - catching a brief glitter of emerald before she reached out and she was -_

- gasping, bolting upright in her bed, shaking and damp. She was in her bed at home in London, finally after two long years at sea. Two endless years of rebuilding and expanding her Father's company.

Alice sighed shakily, putting her head in her hands and resting them against her up drawn knees.

The same dream, or rather, the same dream and it's progression. _Such an odd, prophetic dream_, she breathed deep to steady herself.

Alice slipped from her bed and went to her window, pushing aside the drapes. She saw the world of London thrown in contrasts of blue and white and black from the high, full moon.

A fluttering blue - vivid, neon against the pallid world of night - caught her eye and she inhaled sharply.

"Absolem?" She pressed her hand to the glass as the butterfly settled against the sill.

She wasn't surprised, startled perhaps, but not surprised. Alice couldn't put her finger on it, but she was positive she shouldn't be this calm, this knowing.

"Meet me down stairs." She told him, then whirled and grabbed her dressing gown - slipping into it as she darted like a shadow down the stairs and out the backdoor to the tiny gardens of their city home.

Absolem fluttered to land delicately on her hand and she smiled fondly at him.

"What brings you to me at this hour, my friend?" She asked softly, walking with him carefully until she found the bench in the back corner of the garden beneath the oak tree.

"You have been Dreaming, Alice. It's brought me here." Absolem told her, and was not surprised when the young blonde woman tilted her head in confusion.

"That sounds much more complicated than simple dreams, and I believe it is. I didn't mean to call you unnecessarily, Absolem." Alice apologized and the butterfly gave her an exasperated glare.

Or as well as he could as a butterfly in the Overworld, anyway.

"Silly girl, you didn't call me. Your Dreamself was spotted in Underland." Absolem said, watching the weight of that hit her - Alice's eyes went wide and quite eerily bright in the shadows.

Absolem hummed contentedly. _Underland would be in safe hands with this one_, he thought.

"Time for me to go home, isn't it?" She asked softly, looking as if relief was going to collapse her.

"Yes, dear. Long past time." Absolem said and she smiled, with an agreeing nod.

"Take me to Underland, Absolem. Show me." Alice said, standing and looking quite resolute.

"Come then, we need your mirror." Absolem said fluttering up and leading her back into the house and to her room where her long oval mirror stood in the corner glinting just so in the shadows.

"Keep in your mind where you wish to be and simply go through. I shall accompany you." Absolem said, settling on her shoulder.

Alice closed her eyes and imagined Underland with all it's inhabitants, it's lands full of wonder - imagined quite clearly a gap toothed smile and mood-toned eyes, then opened her eyes and carefully climbed through her mirror.

She climbed out of another mirror, similar in size and shape, into another bedroom clearly not her own.

Absolem chuckled, "Of course, _here_ is where you'd wish to be."

But Alice had never seen this place before, never seen the large hastily made bed with mismatching blankets and linens. Never seen the oddly shaped windows and their multihued draperies.

But she did know this place, she knew who lived there and she gave Absolem a affectionate quelling look.

"Not a word from you, sir." She said and he laughed.

There was a quiet music coming from the floor below so Alice padded quietly out of the bedroom and down surprisingly sturdy, unsqueaky stairs (from all appearances the staircase looked ready to crumble to pieces if Absolem so much as sneezed near them) to follow the spill of warm light and music from behind a half shut door.

Alice saw Absolem flutter off someplace out of the corner of her eye as she pushed the door open a little more and slipped through.

It was a magnificent workshop - long well built tables, sets of drawers with neat labels, stands and mannequins - though bits of everything were strewn about in the mad wonder of creation. Boxes upon boxes of hats were piled around and hats of every imaginable kind, shape, color and fancy were cluttering the place up.

In the midst of it all was the one Alice missed most of all, her beloved Hatter. Working diligently as he hummed along to the tune coming from the record player in the corner. Alice smiled, even though a few tears dropped down her cheeks, oh how she had missed him so.

"Tarrant?" She called from where she stood by the door, so she didn't startle him.

He jumped about a foot anyway, and she bit her lip against a giggle when he spun looking a little wild, brandishing a hatpin.

"Alice?" He stared, his eyes flowing from the deepest of green to the lightest of orange-gold and back. A broad grin broke across his face and in two long strides he'd gathered her up and hugged her close and fierce. She threw her arms around his neck and held on just as dearly, not minding at all her feet no longer touched the floor, not with a strong arm around her waist and a warm hand in her hair.

"Aye, 'tis you." He set her down but didn't let go, leaning back just enough to study her face, "And you're late! As usual, naughty."

Alice laughed, "At least I am neither too tall nor too small this time!"

An odd look flickered over his face, and she swallowed her laughter, feeling a warmth bloom in her at the look darkening his eyes and his voice.

"Nay, yer not that's true." He rumbled softly, stroking her face with a work roughened finger.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Just a quick shout out to the really cool reviewers and the peeps who're watching this story! It means a lot to me! I'll try to keep updating regularly for y'all.

* * *

Alice looked up into deep emerald eyes peering down at her from a beloved white face, the flaming wild curls and a curious gap toothed grin - curious in it's soft crookedness. She felt as if she might have swallowed Absolem and several of his friends under the look the Hatter was giving her. A rosy blush colored her pale cheeks and made Tarrant chuckle lowly, Alice's toes curled slightly into the lush carpet at the sound.

"Have you been well, my friend?" She asked, fighting the flush down.

"Much better, for seeing you lass." Tarrant said and she grinned a little lopsidedly up at him.

"Thank you, even if that was no answer Tarrant." She chided and he chuckled again, pulling her impossibly tighter to him.

He gripped her like a man holding a dream, he held her as if she would vanish any moment on him. She softened against him, tightening her arms around his neck and gave him a knowing look.

"I'm here, and I'm not going anyplace." She assured him quietly, watching the green of his eyes lighten a few shades.

"Aye, it's definitely you, Alice. Such a wondrous Lady." the Hatter sighed happily, giving her another quick squeeze before setting her back and giving her a proper once over.

"_Why_ are you in your nightclothes?" He asked, making her blush again.

* *

"Absolem?" Mirana looked up from her writing as delicate little feet landed like a whisper on her hand.

"Your Majesty." Absolem bowed.

Mirana smiled warmly, before some thought seemed to strike her and she looked at him with some degree of urgency.

"She's returned, then?" the White Queen asked, and Absolem nodded.

"And the Blue Castle has begun to rebuild itself in earnest." He told her.

Mirana sat back, trembling in relief. She buried her face into her hands, Absolem fluttering at her shoulder, and began to weep with relieved joy.

Underland would survive.

* *

Alice had been installed at Tarrant's kitchen table (a kitchen, she'd been awed to note, that was utterly meticulous) and was watching him cheerfully make tea.

"You never answered me, Hatter. How have you been? Truly?" Alice asked.

The redhead paused just briefly before going back to collecting tea things as the pot brewed.

"I have been doing well, Alice. I am healthy, I am back to my trade. There is no more war and peace has returned to Underland." He told her as he set down two sets for tea, she noted with a smile that none of the china matched.

She watched him carefully as he delicately laid teacakes and tiny sandwiches on a round plate, before setting it down. He glanced up and caught her arched eyebrow and her knowing look, and flushed ever so pinkly.

"Ah, well. I've been alright." He cleared his throat and fetched the tea, "How were your travels? Absolem occasionally had news of exotic destinations."

"They were exotic, and the business was rewarding. We expanded the company to China, Australia, India and the Middle East." She rested her chin on her fist and sighed softly, "But it was very long at sea, and I missed home terribly."

"London calling, yes?" He asked pouring tea for them, she glanced up at him with a wistful smile.

"No, dear Hatter. Not London. Think farther, more wondrous."

He paused in his doing to pin her with an intense stare, eyes so vivid a leaf green that it seemed like they were aglow from within, the deepest of amber ringing them.

_He's quite sane, when both insanities are present,_ Alice thought fondly, quite liking the effect.

"You had, even then, considered Underland your home?" He asked, voice odd.

"I had considered Underland my home, as soon as I truly understood that it was real. More than real." Alice agreed, stirring her tea idly.

She glanced up and out toward the gardens - Tarrant's eyes went wide at how brightly a vivid blue her eyes absolutely glowed - and grinned crookedly.

"Chess. Stop skulking." She called and Tarrant nearly jumped at the appearance of two round cat eyes and a crescent grin hovering just above the kitchen's sink.

"Why if it isn't _the_ Alice. Finally come in person rather than your Dreamself, hmm? I've come to understand you've gotten to be a little Touched, is that right?" Chess asked, floating over to give her a gentle nudge.

"_T-touched_?" Alice's eyes went wide, going a fierce pale blue, and her voice became odd, multilayered as if multiple Alices of different tones were speaking in unison. It startled her two companions quite badly.

"_T-touched, dreaming..not awake. Real? Yes, real. Blue and Real and Touched and _-" Alice didn't finish the mad line of rambling because her eyes rolled up and she slumped over unconscious.

Tarrant caught her before she slid to the floor and righted her tea cup before the liquid scalded her. He glared up at a terrified and desolate looking Chess.

"Oh dear, why is it always something **_I_** say that triggers these things?" the Cheshire muttered, ears flat and tail drooping as he followed Tarrant, who'd scooped Alice up, out the door.

Like politics, Chessur detested getting involved in prophecy.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to my lovely reviewers! Reading them always makes me smile, also it's nice to know I'm not completely weird with writing this. :] Again, Alice and company are not mine, and like always all mistakes are my own since this is not beta'd. (Someone want the job?)

* * *

The Bandersnatch and Bayard met them in the forest, which startled Chessur since he hadn't been aware of Mirana knowing quite that much about the situation. Tarrant didn't even hesitate before laying Alice across the Bandersnatch's back and hauling up himself, holding her secure as they took off.

Alice had gone very pale, lips and eyelids tinted blue, though she was breathing. Barely, much to Tarrant's distress. She had begun to tremble, and that had all four of them anxious - for it was not a chill that shook her, it was a fierce heat that was just shy of being truly painful to touch.

The Hatter gritted his teeth against the rising burn, and urged the Bandersnatch to go faster - the beast complied as best he could.

"I'll have them ready the Clean Room." Chessur said before vanishing.

Tarrant bit back the anger, it wasn't Chess' fault he was always the Bringer of these things. Not his fault he knew the words to unlock prophecy without knowing he knew them.

He shook himself as Alice gave a mewling whimper and began to shake in earnest, going damp and much bluer.

Bayard didn't like the smell of illness, but he detested it upon Alice. He worried as he glanced up at the stony, determined face of the Hatter - that the madness would consume the man completely if anything should happen to her.

His eyes had gone sharp and had turned to a deeper burnt amber color than the one they feared, the barest hint of fir green along the edges - a new sort of madness that Bayard was uncertain of. That only Alice could inspire.

He whuffed involuntarily, startled at the sudden flare of blinding light followed by a deafening crash of thunder, the hound looked up a little frightened. _Underland hadn't ever had such violent storms_, he thought uneasily just as the charcoal dark clouds split open and poured a flood upon them.

The hound and the Bandersnatch shared a meaningful look before pressing on faster through the storm and the woods.

* *

Mirana paced restlessly before the open balcony doors of the Clean room prepared for Alice - the sheer drapes fluttered and twisted in the wind as the dark world lit up in a near constant strobe of lightening - the continuous roar and rumble of the clouds making her bones ache. The world was flooding. It was terrible, the wind howled as if it were wounded and the sky sobbed as if someone were dying.

Mirana froze and looked out the window, _as if someone were dying - Alice!_ She spun, and much to the Hare and Rabbit's consternation, picked up her skirts and darted from the room toward the entrance halls.

Two nurses followed her, and Chessur's tail kept the others from doing so as well.

Nivens and Thackeray looked up at him confusedly.

"She's fetching Alice. You'll be more useful out of the way." Chess told them gently, and the very quiet Mallymkin huffed angrily.

"We'll not be useful at all, if she's dead. You seein' this storm, Chess? You seein' what she's doin'?" Mally cried, gesturing wildly to the open doors. "She's rippin' everything apart!"

"Hoo, she canae die! Lassie canae die! She be our Champion!" Thackeray whimpered, pulling on his ears in distress.

"Calm yourself, Thackeray. She's not going to die. We'll get her in time. Just be calm. She has to live, she hasn't tried any of your new recipes!" Nivens said, distracting the Hare from his madness and glaring at Mally who cowered apologetically.

"Alice may be in some distress," Absolem's voice floated in to them before he did himself, "but if she were dead - the sky would not be fighting so ferociously for her." He assured them kindly.

"Mallymkin, Thackeray - the Tweedles are in need of some company. Why don't you teach them to make crumbcakes? Take your minds off the troubles of the world for a while." Absolem suggested, giving Mally a pointed look.

"Sounds like a good idea, Absolem. Come on, Ears." Mally tugged on the Hare who followed without a word, and they left.

"Is she going to live Absolem? Does the Oraculum know?" Nivens asked, anxiously fidgeting with his waistcoat.

"It's most peculiar," Absolem hummed, puffing on a tiny glass pipe.

He fluttered up just as the Queen and Tarrant burst in with Alice limp in his arms the nurses behind them carrying trays and tubs. Nivens dove out of the way and Chessur reappeared just beside them as they stood and watched the pandemonium.

Alice was being stripped of her soaking nightclothes, warm compresses were being lined along her convulsing body - towels were rubbing her dry and hot coals were being added to the foot of the bed in closed pans to warm the blankets. Tarrant and the nurses had to hold her still and he forced her mouth open so Mirana could pour potion after potion down her throat. The blue tint to her skin, the deep bruised blue cast to her lips and eyes were deepening.

"What's peculiar, Absolem?" Nivens asked, dreading the answer - both he and Chess looked at the butterfly.

"It's peculiar, that the Oraculum has gone blank." he told them quietly.

Chessur's ears flattened against his head, and his eyes went round and sorrowful. Nivens made a hurt sort of noise and the three of them looked back to the scene before them.

* *

There was an odd grind and slide sound echoing near constantly over the grounds. Huge, fallen bricks were replacing themselves, crumbled stone piecing back together. Glass was shimmering as it fit back in it's rightful place - everything like an intensely complicated jigsaw puzzle. Hedges and thickets were retreating, shaping again into beautiful edges, weeds were falling away, flowering plants slowly regreening and beginning to bud.

A tallish slender figure, pale and made of nothing but white wisps stood from the woodline and watched, eyes so electric a deep blue they glowed and sparkled even under the terrible storm. Oh so carefully was the Castle of Blue healing itself, and reconnecting with the deep vines of magic rooting it to the soul of the world.

The Dreamwalker smiled before turning back into the dark wood and vanishing into the shadows.

The Dream Kingdom was waking up.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I'm sort of proud for churning out four actual chapters this weekend. However, this will not be the case during the week since classes and classwork take up most of my time. Fear not, I am always bored and always writing. Expect updates regularly, just not like they have been. Also, there will be twelve chapters, and maybe a sequel. As always, huge thanks go to my reviewers! The kind words have made me smile. :]

* * *

"Will she wake up?" Tarrant asked softly, stroking the flushed cheek with the back of his hand, eyes unmoving from Alice's sleeping face.

"I don't know," Mirana said looking helplessly at her hands, "we have done everything we can. Now," she looked out to the vicious storms continuing outside, "Now, we can do nothing but wait."

Absolem glanced over the tiny crowd huddling around the tiny white room before fluttering to Mirana and resting on her hand. The only comfort he could give.

He watched over them all for another moment before looking out to the blue tinted storming world, _Finish your business soon, Alice, we don't know how much longer we can keep you grounded_, he thought.

* * *

Alice's eyes popped open and she sat up slowly, taking in her surroundings. She was laying in a meadow of wildflowers surrounded by a tall sunlit forest. There were spring clouds, white and fluffy, drifting lazily across the sun bright sky.

Alice stood, realizing with a happy, relieved smile that she was still in Underland - the colors of the meadow were nothing she'd ever find in Overland. They didn't hum contented wordless tunes as they swayed in the gentle breeze either.

"Hello, Alice!" The flowers greeted sweetly.

"Hello, everyone!" Alice laughed, turning into the warm breeze with a blissful expression.

She was distracted from her absorption of the peace and serenity around her by a low throbbing tone that had her looking down - finding a blue line, glowing in time with the tone running along the ground. Where she was standing was a large circular stone in the ground as if it were a part of the earth, the face was smooth and inlaid with blues and pearlescent stones to make the most beautiful and intricate image.

A soft whoosh startled her from her contemplation of the stone and a flare along the line caught her eye - there was a bright white light moving along the blue line as if going someplace.

"Fairfarren everyone!" Alice waved as she began to trot after the white bead of light.

"Fairfarren Alice!" The flowers called after her before going back to their lovely tune.

_Where is the Hatter, I wonder?_ Alice thought as the light took her on a weaving path through the warmly lit woods. _I was with him last, but it is Underland, anything could happen. _She grinned and ducked under a low limb, then leapt gracefully (or as well as she could barefoot and in a filmy nightdress) over a small creek before darting after the light.

_Well, I'll simply have to tell him of the adventure when I see him next. _She thought decisively, then put it from her mind.

She had a little light bead to catch.

* * *

"Majesty, I think you should take a look at this." Chessur murmured from where he hovered by the open doors.

The rain had died down to a simple soaking rather than trying to flood the place, so Mirana stepped out to the balcony to see what he was staring at.

There in the ravine that the waterfalls lived in, at the bottom at the lake's edge was a figure alit and undisturbed by the storm - almost like a ghost. The skin was pearlescent like a cloud and clothed in a pale blue dress; long pale wheat locks fell in gentle curls to her waist - and it was most certainly a her - topped by a simple crown. She was walking along the water's edge, barefoot and smiling ever so softly - her cornflower blue eyes simply glowing in the depths of the shadow.

"Alice," Mirana breathed, the beauty of her friend catching her breath hostage under her ribs.

Alice would live if her Dreamself wandered in Underland.

Neither of them noticed the Hatter standing just inside the doors, staring with oddly bleak eyes at the phantom Alice on the shores below.

The phantom turned her face up to the balcony they stood on and Tarrant felt himself freeze - those piercing, understanding eyes pinned him still, then she smiled.

For the briefest of moments, Tarrant's eyes glowed a fierce and clear autumn sky _blue_.

* * *

Alice followed the white bead until it stopped short, hovering with an almost exasperated humming at the edge of a very tall cliff. The cliff dropped down clean and shear hundreds of stories before the land spread out like a painting before her. Her breath caught in amazement at the sight.

She could see the distant mountains, the golden and green plains - the endless woods spotted with meadows. Rivers spider webbing over the land with pockets of water here and there. She could see the tips and lands of different castles, towns dotting around the various kingdoms with cheerful, productive smoke rising from the chimneys.

As she looked closer she bit her lip in a helpless frown - she could see the ruins of what once was a magnificent castle in the distance, could see where the woods were charred and the skeletons of pillaged and destroyed townships once resided whole and happy. _Oh, Tarrant_, she thought sadly as she remembered his home of Witzend and it's wasteland appearance now.

Alice could see the overwhelmingly large cemeteries, the abandoned Red castle. The borders of the Outlands, and where the green and life dropped off into black and desolation. Underneath everything though, she could see the intricate and numerous lines of blue light that connected and chased and spider webbed like crackle glass - like the web was a backdrop for the life it resided under. It went beyond everything even into and beyond the Outlands.

She looked down to the blue line she'd been chasing, where it ended with a softly humming white bead of light.

"What are you, I wonder?" Alice asked of nobody, looking closer at the line.

"A leyline." A soft voice said, startling the blonde woman.

Alice looked up to find a figure, indistinct and made of wisps of pearl, glowing blue eyes and identifiable as female only by the long locks falling about her otherwise unclothed form.

"Leyline?" Alice echoed, curious about the inverse shadow figure leaning against a tree just a few meters away.

"They mark the threads of power keeping Underland together, and there are stone markers along them that denote the more powerful pools of wild magic. No one can see them anymore, though." the ghostly figure said, sounding sad as if she'd been abandoned by the others.

"We can see them." Alice pointed out, and the figure looked at her with some amusement.

"That's because we're special." The figure said, sounding quite amused. "Come now, there is something you need to see, and it will take some time to reach." A ghostly hand reached out and without a thought Alice placed her hand in that oddly warm grasp.

"What is it I need to see?" Alice asked as the other figure tugged and they began to walk.

"You know you're dreaming here, don't you?" The figure asked instead, glancing over her shoulder to look at Alice briefly.

"Maybe. But if this is a dream, does that mean I have fallen asleep at the Hatter's table?" Alice asked, faintly horrified. What terrible manners that was, even for Underland!

"You haven't fallen asleep at his table, no. But you are sleeping in Underland. It's nice to hear that it's truly real to you again." the figure chuckled, and Alice looked down going faintly pink in shame.

"Don't fret, you did what you needed to. You've returned, and you're ready now. That's all that matters, really." The figure told her softly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Alice studied the form leading her and wondered briefly if it was some kind of Mirana, a vision of the White Queen in her dreams showing her, like always, the way now that she'd accepted her place.

The figure glanced over her shoulder again, looking amused, as if she knew Alice's errant thought and found it amusing but incorrect. _And, no_, Alice agreed, _the figure wasn't Mirana - Mirana had the most deep chocolate amber eyes - no, this shadow creature had blazing eyes of everchanging blue._

_So, why then, was she so familiar? _Alice wondered.

After some time, Alice could only tell time was moving at all by the movement of the sun and the deepening of the gold it cast along the ground, they came to the edge of a vast grounds. They stood on the edge of a long road of pale earth leading up to a beautiful castle - one looking a little blurred in the distance, but obviously made in the combined styles of Marmoreal and Salazen Grum, with circular architecture - rather than heart-shaped - and in shades of blue rather than white. It wasn't chess themed, however, but simply elegant and artistic.

The figure tugged again and they began the walk up the road to where it became smooth cobblestones of pale blue a bridge over a grand, roaring river that circled the castle proper. The river banks were emerald green with grass and flowering with a rainbow of hues.

Alice saw that the castle hadn't been blurry with distance, it had been moving! The stones themselves were simply rearranging themselves in the finishing touches of rebuilding it looked like. She stared up marveling over the rainbow glass windows, the pearlescent finishes and the deep blue stone marbled with pearl and bronze that made up the castle proper.

Alice walked up the stairs to the tall, wide double doors with their shiny finish and bronze handles, the figure was hanging back at the bottom of the stairs. Alice looked back toward her questioningly, the figure leaned casually, crossing her arms, against the bottom post of the railing.

"You need to know that you are accepting a great responsibility if you open those doors." The figure told her seriously, "You wont ever be able to return to Overland, and you will become different. More like us, more Underlandian."

"And if becoming a permanent resident of Underland doesn't bother me?" Alice asked, the figure smiled with a shrug.

"Then that decision will be burdenless, however, the responsibility you are gaining by opening those doors - those you may come to regret. Only," she paused, looking up at the turrets with an odd, almost forlorn look, "only, there will be no simply giving it back, or running away from it."

Alice turned and looked to the figure, "Will I be alone? Will I be forsaking my beloved friends, will I be dooming them should I not receive this responsibility?"

"No, you will neither be forsaking nor dooming them, however you will become different from them. But if it soothes you," the knowing, amused gleam came back to the figure's eyes, "you will have a constant, most beloved companion."

"You cannot tell me more? Tell me of this responsibility?" Alice asked, a little sardonically.

"You know how this goes, Alice. It is your choice only, when you step through those doors - you carry the burden alone." The figure told her seriously, and Alice nodded - she had expected nothing less.

"May I know your name?" Alice asked finally, and the figure gave her a soft chuckle.

Alice turned and placed her hands on the bronze handles, glancing over her shoulder at the figure.

"You may, Alice, another time." She said then, eerily reminiscent of Chessur, she was gone.

Alice laughed and pushed the doors open, walking freely through the doors just as the last stone fitted into its rightful place.

* * *

Alice woke with gasp, jerking slightly. The room she woke to is spotless white, and quite crowded. She can make out in the soft moonlight filtering through the gauzy drapes that there are several recognizable figures curled up on cots around the room.

"Alice?" a sleepy, concerned voice asked just from her left, and she turned her head to find a familiar face.

"Hello, Hatter." She murmured, unsurprised to find him curled protectively around her, laying on the quilts wrapping her up.

He seemed to wake up more fully at that, propping himself up on one elbow to look down at her with relieved, fairly glowing grass green eyes.

"You have given us, me, everyone! Quite the scare, young miss. Very naughty." He told her, voice low in deference of the sleepers in the room, and she wrinkled her nose at him.

"Scared you? What have I done?" She asked a little anxious.

"_Shh_, no, no I've said it wrong. Well, no I haven't, you _did_ scare us (me most of all!), but it was by falling ill, rather than anything you did consciously. However, your spectacular weather antics of _unconsciousness_ were cause for some worry, but no matter. I am just ever so relieved that you are awake!" He babbled quietly, running the back of his hand against her thankfully again-porcelain cheek.

"I was ill?" Alice hmmed, closing her eyes and leaning into his touch, "Well, she_ had_ said that I'd fallen asleep, and not at your table."

"You didn't fall asleep at all, you fell unconscious!" Tarrant told her, looking a bit wild eyed in remembrance, "You were talking and then Chessur said something, then you were babbling nonsense before you slumped over! And then there was the shaking and sweating and bleeding an -"

"Tarrant!" Alice cupped his distressed face with her hands and he stopped his panicking.

"I'm sorry, thank you. It's just," he took a shaky breath, "it was _horrible_." he whispered.

She shushed him softly and pulled him down to rest his forehead to her's, making him wrap an arm around her to steady himself.

"I'm well now, darling, I'm better. No need to worry any more." She assured him, and it was not a lie - she felt just as well as she had when she'd first decided to come back - better even! She felt as if she had been energized with pure light.

He collapsed into her, burying his face into her neck, she wrapped her arms around her shoulders burying one hand into his wild locks. She felt him shake, tightening his arms around her as if he could keep her from death by simply holding her.

After a few minutes, his shaking seemed to fade and she looked to find him sleeping the sleep of the exhausted, salty trails on his cheeks. She smiled softly, and brushed the tears away, then pulled the covers to cover them both. Which situated him completely into her, and made her go faintly pink, but she didn't mind as she settled with him once more - falling asleep listening to him snore gently.

Absolem watched as they fell firmly into slumber's embrace, then looked out the window where Alice's Dreamwalker reappeared walking along the shoreline. The image appeared much, much stronger than it had previously.

The butterfly glanced at the sleeping blonde curled up with their Hatter, and smiled to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So, I think my new Update Day will be Saturday. And depending on how productive I am through the week will depend on how many chapters get posted. The next two chapters will be a little slow going, but will be packed with Alice/Tarrant goodness (however the smexing doesn't happen til much later, so bear with me)! As always, Alice in Wonderland in any of its incarnations is not mine, and all mistakes found herein are. Also, thank you very much to all my reviewers, I hope that the story turns out how you'd like it. :]

* * *

The morning light was pale and the air balmy - the darkness of the storms completely gone. The violence given way to hope and calm.

Alice blinked the blur from her eyes, stretching automatically but coming up short by a warm, comfortable weight sprawled across her. She looked and smiled at the sight of wild orange-red curls and the peaceful bonewhite face nestled against her clavicle.

Remembering the crowd of last night, Alice was somewhat surprised to find the room empty but for the Hatter and herself. She brought a hand up and ran her slender fingers through the riot of hair at her chin, welcoming the moments to simply be with the man - the only man, mind - to ever have left true, permanent fingerprints on her heart.

Alice felt different, she felt something like Absolem must have - newly transformed from a caterpillar to a butterfly. She felt invigorated, bubbly and sweet - like her blood had been replaced with the finest champagne. She felt giddy with health, but something calm, and vast, and warm ran deeper than she thought one person could feel.

Alice felt like a tree rooted deep and sturdy, yet reaching miles high and dancing with the wind. She felt bloody fantastic, if she did say so herself.

She smiled widely, biting her bottom lip in an attempt to quell it, burying her face in Tarrant's hair to breathe him in deep. She giggled, and tried to keep still so she didn't wake the man up, but to feel him shift she knew she'd failed. Despite this, her smile deepened and went softer around the edges.

Sleep blurred, warm grass green eyes were revealed from behind beguiling orange-red lashes as they fluttered up. He blinked slowly at her, as if he couldn't tell if he were still dreaming or not, and Alice continued her slow petting through his hair.

"Good morning, Tarrant." She murmured and his eyes went wide and awake in a split second, a gap toothed grin shining up at her.

"Good morning, Alice!" the Hatter chirped, tightening his arms around her in a brief squeeze.

He pushed himself up and she giggled at his sleep rumpled clothing and wild hair sticking every whichway. He grinned down at her, eyes going a deep emerald and her breath caught.

That was a look a man gave a woman he..well, Alice blushed. That was new and wonderful information, she tucked it away to be explored later - and not when the whole castle was most likely waiting on them for breakfast.

"Time for breakfast, then?" She asked, sitting up with a stretch.

She glanced over at him and froze mid stretch, hands linked above her head and her back arched. His eyes were molten, the deepest of greens lined by the brightest of gold, they were half shut and fixed intently on her.

The look made a warmth bloom deep in her belly, rising until her face went red and her whole body felt blindingly hot. She remembered in that instant two fierce kisses on a battlefield long ago and wondered if now something could, or would, come from them.

The Hatter's eyes widened but didn't lighten, she slowly let her hands fall to her lap the shoulder of her sleeping gown drooping down her arm in sympathy. She was watching him, waiting with a breathless stillness she was completely unaccustomed to.

"Yer glowin'." Tarrant said awed, voice low and intoxicatingly Outlandish.

Alice shivered at the sound, even as she blinked. That was not what she had been expecting. "Pardon?" She asked looking down at herself with confusion.

A warm, be-thimbled hand touched her chin and guided her head up to look at him. He noted with some stunned satisfaction that her eyes were swirling like a storm cloud of blues, light shades over darker ones in a restless spiral.

Tarrant felt something that had been knotted up and fraying in him loosen and soften. Something settled deep inside his core then bloomed like a bubbling light through him. Alice glowed ever more brighter.

"Alice," Tarrant breathed softly, and she could tell, was absolutely positive that he was going to say something, or maybe even kiss her! But he never got the chance, for the doors of the room flew open and let a tray-bearing Mirana through along with the others.

"You are awake, oh thank Goodness!" The Queen sighed, relieved, sounding quite tearful.

She carefully set the tray on the table beside the bed before simply throwing her arms around the younger blonde woman. Tarrant had moved back against the headboard but sat close enough to steady them (for which Alice was grateful), and after letting the young woman go, Mirana sat pressed against her side.

The reactions across the room made Alice wonder just how ill she'd been. Made her wonder what had exactly happened while she'd been dreaming.

"Good morning, all. I'm very much well, thanks to you all." Alice assured the lot of desperately relieved and tearful faces, putting a comforting arm around the Queen.

"We were frightened that the fever would kill you." Nivens said, obsessively grooming his ears and paws in outward anxiety at the mere thought.

"I feel magnificently splendid, so have no worries!" Alice said, smiling brightly at them. Glowing quite bright in the truth of it.

"How'dya get to be so bright?" One of the Tweedles asked, "Yeah, like some star you'd be glowin' Alice!" his twin added.

Alice looked between them quite perplexed, only to blink in surprise when Mallymkin landed on her lap.

"Your eyes! They're like Hatter's." the Dormouse exclaimed, fascinated.

"What?" Alice asked, reaching for her own face, startled.

"Nae, they're not. They're blue, jus' different changin' shades o' blue." Thackeray pointed out, making the rest nod in agreement. No, her eyes didn't switch shades quite like Tarrant's mood-prone ones, that was true.

"But, why are they changing at all?" Alice asked, looking to Mirana then to Tarrant confused and worried.

"They're changing because you've changed, silly girl." Absolem said as he fluttered down to rest on her out stretched palm, "Remember your journey of last night?"

Alice nodded, "Yes, my dream. I remember." There was a pause, pointed and sure, in which she began to think it was not merely a dream after all. "Not a simple dream, was it? That castle of blue is real? And, well, at least that explains why I need to find it." Alice sighed, rubbing her face tiredly after Absolem pushed off to hover just beside the Queen.

"What am I meant to be doing now, Absolem? What does the Oraculum say?"

"The Oraculum has gone blank, oddly enough, just as you've returned." the butterfly said, and Alice went deathly pale - both the color of skin and eyes washing out dangerously.

"I've what?" She asked, feeble and breathless.

"_You've_ not done anything," Tarrant assured, glaring at Absolem, "Underland and you have simply been changing simultaneously _together_." He told her as she tucked herself into his warm side, staving off the trembling.

"Have I become Underlandian? Is that why I, and the Oraculum, have changed?" Alice asked, looking at Absolem who chuckled.

"Alice, you silly girl, you have always been Underlandian. You _**are**_ Underland, haven't you figured that out?"

* * *

After Absolem's little proclamation, Mirana had shooed everyone (including the Butterfly) out of the room so that Alice could eat her breakfast in peace.

She'd informed Alice that there was a hot bath waiting for her in the bathroom and clothing in the wardrobe, and once she was ready she was free to roam the castle.

However, Mirana had also needed to speak with Tarrant, which had only worried Alice briefly before she shrugged it off and vowed to find the man later, they had some unfinished business to discuss.

Alice ate her breakfast on the balcony over looking the falls and the gorgeous lake below, leisurely enjoying her tea, her toast and jam and her oatmeal with fruit. When she was finished she left the tray with everything stacked neatly on it, on the table that she'd gotten it before heading to the bathroom.

The tub was more like a small pool, set down into the marble floor, as if they'd simply carved it out of the same stone. It was filled with clear, steaming water and looked absolutely divine to the blonde.

She left her dressing gown and sleeping gown draped over the chair to the vanity and used a ribbon and pins from the same vanity to pile her hair upon her head and keep it there.

She carefully slid into the water and settled back with a soft groan of contentment. She had a feeling today would be an interesting adventure, and it was starting out very good.

* *

"You wished to speak with me, Majesty?" Tarrant prompted softly, making Mirana shake herself from her thoughts and mindless tea pouring.

"Yes," she handed him a cup and saucer before settling in with her own, "it's about Alice. And about the things facing her now."

"She's being called home." Tarrant nodded, setting his untouched tea on the table, looking out the open balcony doors with lonely, melancholy pale yellow eyes. He was a simple milliner, not fit for the beloved of a Queen. Certainly not fit to be her husband.

"Yes, the Dream Kingdom is calling for it's Queen. That's true." Mirana nodded, taking a delicate sip before smiling, "Of course, it's easier for her to answer since her Dreamer is already with her."

Tarrant looked at her sharply, with a motion that made her fear for his neck briefly, before pinning her with fierce, fir green, amber rimmed eyes. She hid her widening smile behind her tea cup, watching the implications of that hit him.

"The journey she must go on now will be dangerous - both physically and mentally. You both must be prepared. This is just as much a test for you as it is for her, you understand?" Mirana asked, disliking the damper her words put on his jovial mood.

"Yes, m'Lady, I understand." Tarrant nodded, looking out at the sunlight again.

_Alice is my Queen, and I, her Dreamer, _he thought proud and fierce, _I will not fail her. I will **not**! _

* *

Alice had donned a cream colored dress with a wide scooped collar that bared the tops of her shoulders and her clavicle, with long fitted sleeves. The dress was fitted through the bodice before flaring just so at her hips and the hem fell to just below her knees, a single petticoat beneath the thing pleased her. The look simple look was finished with unadorned, slightly heeled matching slippers.

Alice had been thoroughly pleased with the simplicity of the dress and made a note to thank Mirana when she saw the other woman. Alice had stepped out of the room she'd woken up in, to an unfamiliar corridor.

She didn't remember being in this part of the castle on her last stay, so she politely asked a passing Guardsman if he would please point her the way to the library.

She needed to see the Oraculum, and she hadn't the foggiest clue why she thought it would be in the Library. But when the Guardsman simply escorted her there himself, she expressed her thanks and was presented with the sight of a familiar scroll laying on a table in the middle of the large circular room.

"Alright, lets see what we can do for you." She murmured as she rolled the parchment open.

Alice was surprised, and a might confused, when she saw familiar ink scrawling itself across the paper. The drawings might have been a little more lively, and more colourful than their previous black only designs, but otherwise she could find nothing wrong with the oracle at all.

"Well, it doesn't look like you're out of sorts. Why would Absolem think you blank?" Alice asked curiously.

Then the Oraculum did something peculiar, well, at least peculiar to Alice anyhow.

The ink seemingly sank into the parchment before new pictures draw themselves out before her eyes. A familiar caterpillar smoking from a pipe, reading from the Oraculum. Then another picture depicted the same caterpillar in the stages of transforming into a butterfly.

The butterfly flew up to the Overland, to settle on a familiar girl's shoulder as she went off to exotic places. The drawing changed again, depicting Absolem as Alice's guide rather than the interpreter of the Oraculum.

"So, you are saying that since Absolem became my mentor, for better or worse, he can no longer read or interpret you? The others could only read it because he could?" Alice paused for a moment, nibbling her bottom lip in thought before looking down at the blank parchment.

"Why can I read you then? Do you know, now that I am Underlandian, what I am supposed to be doing now?" Alice asked, almost afraid of the answer - because she knew there would be one. And it would be devastatingly drastic.

Pictures inked themselves into and out of existence across the parchment dizzyingly fast, showing her some sort of journey she would be embarking on - with a familiar top-hatted companion to boot.

But then it landed on the last picture - the final step and what she was meant to do - and she froze.

She couldn't even breathe, her eyes were wide and she felt paralyzed. Confusion, awe, wonder, fright, anxiety and a thread of true fear warred throughout her.

The Alice in the Oraculum was sitting upon an achingly familiar throne, in a beautiful gown and holding an orb made of some strange substance on her lap, with a breathtakingly handsome Tarrant Hightopp placing a beautiful, delicate crown upon her head.

The throneroom of the picture was crowded with people from all over, and the two of them were surrounded by their beloved friends and other Queens and their courts.

When she caught her breath back, seeing the joy and utter elation on the faces in the illustration the anxiety and fright eased and she found she could move again - and though she was still distressingly confused, she finally noticed something about the picture that filled her with pure, unadulterated bliss.

She collapsed into the chair and dropped her face into her hands - crying and laughing at the same time, much to the consternation and confusion of the Librarians.

The Oraculum simply let the illustrations fade, rolling up contentedly.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Okay, so..I'm making up for not posting earlier, I think. Anyway, just as an FYI I'm basing this fic off a combination of both the movie and Woolverton's first draft script. So, yeah. I will warn you, because it's going to come up in the next few chapters, and very heavily in one of the later ones. Anyway! Enjoy.

* * *

"Don't tell me you've lost yourself already?" Absolem's voice teased gently from just beside her.

Alice glared at him half heartedly, brushing the wetness from her eyes. "No, my muchness is intact, you insensitive brute."

"Then why the tears? Why so lost?" Her friend asked, resting delicately on her knee.

"The Oraculum, showed me what I most needed to know - what I am to be doing here. But, it simply shows what will be, it doesn't explain how or why." She eyed the same scroll petulantly, "At least, not to me anyhow."

"You can read it?" Absolem asked, surprised. He chuckled suddenly and shook his head, "Of course, _you_ would be the one to read it."

"What do you mean by that? Absolem, why am I being crowned a Queen? Why must I find the Blue Castle? How do I even know any of this? I'm going mad with all this newness!" Alice looked ready to start tearing at her hair, her eyes spiraling wildly in the dark purplish blue spectrum - bright, vivid purples peeking out along the edges.

Ever since she'd opened those blasted doors in her nighttime wandering, it was as if she'd opened the floodgates of knowledge held behind them so it spilled continuously into her mind without her realizing it. She would just suddenly know things, see or hear things no one else could and it was driving her mad! Absolem must have seen something in her face that told him this plainly for his stern, teasing demeanor changed instantly.

"Hush, dear child. Be calm." Absolem soothed, fluttering against her as if petting her cheek, "Come with me out to the gardens. We will talk, and I will tell you all I know."

She blinked back the creeping madness and nodded, rising and following him sedately from the Library of White and out of the castle to the blossoming tree gardens near the Queen's Labyrinth.

They settled on a bench beneath willow trees that flowered with numerous shades of pink and yellow blossoms, Alice smoothed her skirts placidly before turning to Absolem who settled on the bench beside her and pulled out his pretty glass pipe. Soon, pale blue, sweet smelling smoke filled the air.

"You have many questions, and I have the answers I have for them. If you will listen patiently to a story, I believe I can answer most of them. How they pertain to you will become clear, or else I shall explain further after I have concluded - is this acceptable?" Absolem asked of her.

Alice got comfortable and nodded. He gave a nod of his head and a slow, thoughtful puff to his pipe before speaking.

"Long ago, Underland had a better functioning system of monarchy. Each kingdom was unique and answered to Underland in that unique way. All kingdoms answered to one grand kingdom, a most powerful and holy kingdom. This was the Blue Kingdom, or the Dream Kingdom depending on whom you ask.

There were the Suited Kingdoms of Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds, the Jeweled Kingdoms of White and Red, and of course Blue. These kingdoms were allied, mostly at peace and wholly prosperous. The Monarchs of each kingdom kept up with each other and maintained communications and trade. The age of unity lasted for a millennia, and followed the ages of shadow - a dark and gruesome time I shall not go into now.

Now, as I said before, each Kingdom answered to Underland for it's own unique thing. But Blue was not like the others - Blue had dominion over the magic of Underland itself. Blue protected Underland's very fabric of existence, and so when the other Kingdoms came bearing as supplicants to Underland, they did so as supplicants to the Blue Monarch.

The Blue Monarch would counsel and guide the other Kingdoms' Monarchs and would be the only neutral party that could settle disputes between Kingdoms. They would never, and could never, take sides - it was their job to maintain balance. Just as the ruling two represented such balance.

The Blue Monarchy is made up of the King or Queen, and their Dreamer. Their Dreamer is not only their other half, but they are the Monarch's champion, companion and grounding influence. And although it was quite rare, the two could even be consorts. One of the two is always half mad, and the other half sane, and together they balance each other.

The Dreamer is the Guardsman of the Monarch, and before you ask how a woman could protect her king, let me tell you that as the Dreamer, the _champion_is also just as directly tied to Underland's power as the Monarch themselves.

It also helps, I suppose, that since everyone knows the absolute power of the Blue Kingdom, nobody ever dared to try them. And as Queen, you will come to know much more about the inner workings of these things than I have information, since I was never privy.

Back to the tale. However, just as the Blue was absolutely powerful - it is also absolutely baffling as to what happened. One day the Kingdom was standing and the next everyone was gone - vanished like so much smoke on the wind. Abandoned, not a soul to be found. And eventually everything crumbled to ruin - including the stability of Underland's monarchal unity.

The Red Kingdom took over the neighboring Hearts Kingdom and then went to war with the White Kingdom, the King of Clubs was assassinated and his Kingdom abandoned. It took centuries, but finally some enterprising young thief went to the Blue Castle and found the Oraculum - and saw a day so very far into the future, but so devastatingly absolute that he threw the Oraculum to Tugley Wood.

It was the day when the last Blue Monarch prophesied the coming of a new era, when a new Queen would be crowned and everything would be righted.

However, should that Queen not make it by the time the sun and moon share the same sky of the same hour on the day foretold? Then the entirety of Underland would crumble away and cease to exist. Swallowed up by nothingness." Absolem puffed on his pipe and Alice stared at him, gaping.

They sat in silence for some time before Alice cleared her throat, and blinked at Absolem curiously (hiding the terrified horror deep beneath her ever present curiosity), she tilted her head.

"I have my Dreamer, I have a good idea as to where the Castle is. If I am to be the Blue Queen, why can't I just simply go now?"

Absolem coughed, covering a laugh and making her scowl at him.

"Dear Alice, did you believe something so integral to our continued existence would be so easy as to pack up, trot off and simply crown yourself Queen?" he set teasing aside and looked at her sternly.

"There is a journey you must undertake to even get to the Blue Castle, for no matter how well you think you know the way - you have no idea what lies on that way. You and your Dreamer must undertake this Journey together, and it will prove you both." Absolem told her quite seriously.

"This is much more serious than slaying the Jabberwocky." Alice sighed and Absolem nodded, puffing out neat, perfect O's into the air.

"Yes, indeed. This is so much more than that, and," he looked at her apologetically, "it changes you and the whole world forever. You'll never be able to return to Overland, you do know this?"

"I never intended to return, anyway Absolem. It's not that world that claims me as it's own, nor do it's people love me as I am. Overland is not my home, Underland is." Alice sighed, standing and looking like a muted light to Absolem.

"I seem to be giving up much for this place I love so dear," Alice looked to him a little sadly, "give me some time, please. I will be in for dinner."

With that, she turned and headed into the White Queen's Labyrinth, leaving Absolem to puff on his pipe and contemplate.

* * *

_It was a great responsibility_, Alice thought ruefully, _of course, no one in their right mind would accept it with all the information! _

Alice was walking aimlessly around in the labyrinth, thinking deeply and finding she didn't care one bit if she found herself lost later. She simply ambled, and touched the foliage along the tall, neat hedges.

She was to be a Queen of Queens, the protector of the very existence of Underland - according to Absolem, she _was_Underland, which did and did not make sense considering - _**and **_she had been heinously lied to.

She would be forsaking her friends, for if they ever had need of her - she would never be able to answer their call. Alice would never be able to take a side, would never be able to protect them. She could, however, mediate between the two sides and help them settle a dispute - but what if something like the Red Queen taking over the White Kingdom happened? What could she do to mediate that?

She could, if she was understanding it correctly, simply force the offender to reverse what they'd done and make them settle the dispute like civilized people. And if _that _didn't work, she'd simply conquer the offending Kingdom, return the power and lands to the victimized one and ask the offender how they liked it!

She huffed softly to herself, frustrated. There were no books, no introductory courses, no guides or maps to this Blue Queen business - she had no real clue as to what she should be doing, or what she would be doing once she got there. She'd have to ask Mirana if running a Kingdom was much like running the Company, because if it wasn't she was going to be in deep trouble.

And then there was the whole Dreamer business. She knew with absolute certainty, even without knowing how she knew with such certainty, that Tarrant Hightopp was her Dreamer. Alice was the sanity to his madness and he was the sanity to hers, it all worked out. They _understood_ each other, and no one had ever understood her so wholly before she's met him. Not even her father, and he came damn close.

Alice was also quite wholly, irrevocably and absolutely in love with the mad Hatter. And she was sure that he shared some of that with her - however, she wasn't _as_ certain about that as she was about him being her Dreamer. Her surety was borne more out of a blind hope then any kind of actual knowledge.

Oh, she knew he _wanted_ her - desired her like a man would desire a woman. Alice was not blind, or deaf or dumb - she wouldn't have any actual knowledge of those goings on behind closed doors, but she _had _been friends with the Chattaway twins.

So she was full to the brim with the theoretical, and knew absolutely that Tarrant wished to possess her body - she could read it quite easily in his eyes sometimes, like that morning for instance. Or even the evening prior, before her little fever collapse.

But she was no more sure of him being_ in love_ with her than she was sure of her being able to truly handle what she willingly, blindly thrust upon herself.

Alice mourned the dimming of the bliss she'd woken with that morning. She rounded a corner in the maze only to stop short, _Speak of the Devil and He shall appear_, she thought.

She'd rounded the corner into a tiny, tucked away circular area garden. It had a bench, a blossoming willow tree and a pond with colorful fish that was fed by the manicured stream that wound throughout the labyrinth. It was gorgeous and peaceful. It also guarded a slumped figure with familiar flames of hair and colorful clothing.

Alice walked to the bench and sat beside him, he didn't look up from his intent, unblinking contemplation of his hands, so she contented herself with looking up through the willow tree's blossoms and waving branches to the sunlight that peeked through.

The breeze was warm and carried the sweet smells of the gardens, she closed her eyes against it and smiled peacefully as it played with her loose hair and ruffled her skirts playfully. The man beside her radiated a comforting, exhilarating heat, and his slow, deep breathes played a quiet counterpoint to the breeze - the effects of both that made her wish to curl up against his side in the sun and sleep.

She resisted though, by the barest of margins, and sighed softly to herself as she opened her eyes.

Only to find large eyes gone deep fir green and edged in bright amber fixed on her. He had such a bittersweet expression on his face, she raised a hand and cupped a pale cheek stroking beneath his eye as if she could erase the pained tightness in the corners.

His hand came up and pressed against hers, holding her palm to his cheek as he leaned into it eyes falling half shut. Her heart flip-flopped, and she felt herself melt and go pink simultaneously. They'd turned into to each other, their knees brushing much to her delight, but still she worried for him.

"My dear Tarrant, what troubles you so?" Alice asked softly.

"Many things, Alice. Many things. May we just sit together for a while? When I am with just you I feel so much more at peace." Tarrant looked so quietly sad that Alice slipped her hand from his face to wrap around his neck and pull him to her.

They sat pressed together, with his head on her shoulder and her cheek resting against his hair, their arms wrapped around each other - for quite some time. Neither speaking, each simply listening to the other breathe.

They both noted that they could only simply _be_ like they were presently, with each other. The thought brought them both a great comforting calm.

Together they rested, forgetting their troubles for a while.


	7. Chapter 7, Part i

A/N: This is the first part of chapter seven, the second will follow sometime today or tomorrow. As always, all mistakes are mine and I do very much enjoy getting reviews!

* * *

After some time, the sun's light turned a deep burnt gold and created a twilighted shadow world where it's light couldn't touch any longer.

Much to Alice's delighted surprise, and Tarrant' amusement at her expense, night revealed a whole new set of wonders that Alice never observed before. The last time she was in Underland at night, she hadn't been paying any attention to the world around her - she'd been completely focused on her inner dilemma of who she was or wasn't. She'd been too consumed with confusion and fear to take a proper look around.

The foliage of the hedges in the day were a waxy, deep green but at night they glowed a pale lavender and were lined in a multihued iridescence. The water in the river and pond glowed a bright cerulean blue from the meticulously laid stones that gave off the jewel-toned glow, where in the day's light they were a bright vivid white that sparkled.

The world of Underland lit up at night and it was absolutely magnificent to Alice.

"I never knew that the plants did this!" Alice breathed, fingers tangling in the weeping willow branches that glowed in hues of bright pale pinks and yellows - the colors of the blossoms during the day. They were like luminescent strings, and they danced in the breeze like ribbons.

Tarrant watched her twirl under the doming, glowing vines and watched her giggle with girlish delight at such a simple thing he'd long taken for granted.

He loved her so, but he fiercely adored her in that moment. It must have reflected on his face, for she went very, suddenly still, her eyes a brilliant, sky blue shining awed in the dark.

The Hatter looked away quickly, going quite red in the face, and pretended to be fascinated by the fish darting around in the pond. Alice took a brief note that even the fish glowed eerily at night. It was wonderful.

"You know I'm leaving for the Blue Castle soon, don't you?" Alice asked softly, and he nodded shortly.

They were quiet for a moment, and he looked up to find her right in front of him, just short of his knees. She was smiling in a sad, bittersweetly hopeful sort of way that made the Hatter's heart clench and stirred the bread-and-butter flies in his belly to a fierce frenzy.

He swallowed and she inched so that their knees touched, bending down to cup his face in both hands, like she had in a foreign hat-room in which he'd been prisoner. He noted her eyes were so much deeper than before. So much muchier. It was a glorious wonder for him to behold.

"Come with me, Tarrant." Her grin was magnificently wondrous.

"On your journey? Do you know what you're _asking_?" He wasn't sure she did.

"On my journey," she nodded, then looked at him straight in the eyes, "and I know _exactly_ what I am asking."

His knees parted and she stepped between them to stand right against him, making him sit straighter and rest his hands delicately on the outside of her thighs. Her eyes flared briefly and he grinned.

But the grin vanished seconds after it appeared and he looked at her uncommonly serious, uncommonly sane.

"Why me?" He asked plainly, and she smiled a deeply loving smile that made him catch his breath.

"Because no one else could ever do, my darling Tarrant. There is and always will only ever be you." She blinked, "Have I made a rhyme?"

He stared at her for a split moment before he threw his head back and laughed, tugging her close and holding her tight.

She smiled, leaning against him and running her fingers through his hair, content and relishing in his delight.

Alice knew that everything would turn out alright between them, that they would get to where they needed to be.

Right then, all she wanted to do was exist peacefully with him.

* * *

When Tarrant's mirth quieted, he squeezed her thighs affectionately, smiling up at her with such an open look of devotion that her hands clenched in his hair. His eyes darkened visibly and the affection went feral, the devotion unchanged.

Alice gently tugged his head back and leaned over him, her hair curtaining them off from the world.

"What'cha doin' lass?" He burred, eyes getting a bright gold line, veining through the deep, near black green.

"Giving myself over to _the_ best sort of madness." Alice whispered against his mouth.

Tarrant's last sight before his eyes drifted shut was her eyes going near black a blue, a vivid, neon violet purple veining through them.

_Her eyes are like mine_, he thought happily before the heat of their mouths meshing washed away his thoughts.

Alice never knew kissing would make her feel as if her blood turned to molten lava charged with the zing of lightning. She never knew tasting his mouth would turn her into an instant addict, she felt as if she could feast at his mouth for days and never need any other substance.

Tarrant's hands were kneading her thighs, and he nibbled delectably at her lips, tongue sweeping across to sooth before dipping between them to dance with hers. Her fingers were running through his hair and occasionally fisting, making his breath hitch.

They were breathing softly into each other's mouths, gulping down each other's noises. Alice felt as if she were melting, enflamed as if she were feverish. Tarrant broke from her mouth to dot suckling kisses to her jaw and down the line of her throat, making her jolt and gasp in startled delight.

"Charming, dearest, exquisite…_scrumptious_, Alice." Tarrant murmured against her skin, making Alice shiver.

"S-scrumptious?" She gasped, he'd chosen just that moment to gift her a particularly hard suckling kiss to her fluttering pulse.

"Mhmm. Like applesauce and caramel." He said, resting his chin on her chest and looking up at her with a sweetly impish grin.

Alice chuckled, petting through his hair, calming herself as his hands caressed her thighs similarly.

"Did you enjoy your little foray into madness, my love?" the Hatter asked gently, and she felt love bloom fierce and unending like a fire beneath her ribs.

"Not at all," she grinned at his sudden frown, she leaned down to hum against his mouth, "I absolutely loved it."

She felt him grin before they kissed again, softer and more gently than the passion of moments ago. When they parted again she studied him seriously, he arched a curious eyebrow, silently asking her what ailed her mind.

"I love you." She said simply, her eyes gone lavender.

He stared at her, eyes gone wide and a glowing, vivid leaf green.

"You'll never be rid of me now, my darling Alice. My entire being is yours." He murmured, watching her eyes grow summer sky blue in bliss.

"You'll never get it back, once something is mine," she grinned a sultry, devious grin that made him swallow hard, "it's always _mine_." She whispered against his ear, feeling him shiver and delighting in it.

He crushed her close and she threw her arms around his shoulders tightly, not caring she ended up in his lap. _To hell with propriety_, she thought blissfully.

They held each other for a long time after that, relishing in their quiet love in the spaces of peace before the troubling times they knew lay ahead of them.

* * *

Alice walked into the dinner being held in Mirana's private chambers, on the Hatter's arm. Alice's pesky glow was bright and vivid around her. It was amused Tarrant, but she could see the pride for putting it there so she let him off with a simple stern look.

Mirana was grinning behind her tea, and the others simply looked slightly confused and very welcoming.

"Its so good to see you up and about, Alice." Nivens said as Tarrant seated the blonde beside the Queen.

"Thank you, McTwisp. I'm feeling absolutely blissful." Alice smiled, her glow going briefly blinding before it dimmed and left her quite red in the cheeks and looking nervously chagrined.

"Sorry, I'm working on that." She muttered to her place, studiously ignoring the snickering from either side of her.

Dinner began amongst happy, excited chatter and Alice felt something loosen. She was among her dearest of friends - her family. She'd never felt so accepted, so loved.

She smiled to herself, her glow brightening a notch.

No matter what the future held, she glanced at Tarrant who was speaking animatedly with Nivens and Thackeray, she was _home_.

Mirana touched Alice's hand and got her attention immediately.

"I am hosting a ball to honor your return to Underland as our Champion. It will cover for our preparations for your journey." Mirana told her and Alice nodded.

"Tarrant and I will make our journey, and once we've established my validity - you will get word. You are to be my First Queen, if you'd not mind." Alice said, then blinked her eyes back to blue from the brief flash to violet.

She sighed, exasperation covering her unsettled fear, "I do wish that I didn't just _know_ those things. It's extremely disconcerting when things just pop into my head without warning."

Mirana was very still, sitting very straight and staring at her with such moist eyes that Alice was sure she was about to weep - yet Alice wasn't quite sure if it was from joy or otherwise.

"Mirana? What is it?" Alice asked, touching her friend's hand in concern.

"You would wish me to be your First Queen?" Mirana asked, nearly inaudible.

"Only if it is what you wish." Alice said, understanding dawning.

"That is a," Mirana paused, looking down at her plate for a moment before looking up to Alice, a beaming smile breaking out over her face, "it is a magnificent honor. Thank you." The White Queen said simply.

Alice only smiled, giving Mirana's hand an affectionate squeeze before the returned to their dinners and companions.

"It is a beloved Queen who soon sits on the Blue Throne, a kind and just one. Underland rejoices." Absolem murmured into Alice's ear from his place on her shoulder, chuckling when Alice went red in embarrassment.

Alice felt Tarrant place a comforting hand on her thigh and instantly a warm, calmness washed through her and she relaxed. The ties that bound them to each other had been forged long ago, and had grown only stronger even when they'd been apart.

_Our bonds are two way_, she thought as she rested her hand over his and felt him go still and calm with a smile, _and it has always been an equal thing_.

The two lovers missed Mirana's and Absolem's indulgent looks and the knowing glances shared between Chessur and the two leporine creatures. It was hard to miss - whenever Tarrant touched Alice her new consistent glow intensified and her eyes went a deep cornflower blue.

Alice was truly an angel in those moments.

* * *

"I'm not sure I can do this." Alice murmured to the sky, to her father. He had been, up until Tarrant, the only one who'd understood her and asked no questions - just simply given advice as best he could.

She knew that he couldn't answer this time, but she couldn't confess these fears to Tarrant. He was a part of them.

"Papa, I don't know how to be a Queen. I don't know how to rule anything! I did well with the company, perhaps, but I would bet that Kingdoms and Companies are not that similar." Alice sighed, leaning her elbows against the balcony wall, looking out over the vastness of the White Kingdom.

She'd been moved to a proper set of chambers during supper, and given a set with a view of the valley that led straight to the ocean. The breeze was warm and sweet smelling, she enjoyed it as she stood in her filmy night gown and contemplated the bright moon.

"I'm unsure what to do about Tarrant as well. I love him, Papa, so much that looking at him steals my breath. That thinking of him brings an ache to my heart." Alice looked imploringly to the sky.

"He's my other half, he understands me Papa, like no one ever has. And I understand him. He's wonderful, glorious, talented. I know you would have loved him immediately." She wiped impatiently at the sudden hot spill of tears down her cheeks.

"He tells me he loves me Papa, and I believe him - I can see it. But does he wish to take me for a wife? I don't know." She looked down at her hands on the marble wall and the dark spots made by her tears, "Who would want to marry me knowing what I will become? What I am becoming? I have seen my eyes change and I am not unaware of my other oddities. And, well, I am no simple Underlandian. It's painful." Alice choked out, letting the tears spill freely.

"Absolem helps me best he can, Papa. And Mirana has agreed to be my First Queen - and her counsel comes without price. Tarrant, well - my Hatter is the closest to my heart and soul, he knows my mind. But.." She trailed off.

"I miss you, Papa."

A pair of sad blue eyes hovering without form in the shadows of her room watched the blonde girl drop her face into her hands and weep quietly - not only in mourning of her late father, but for the overwhelming changes taking over her life and the desolate uncertainty.

The eyes vanished from her room to appear in another, where a tall redhead stood at open windows, green eyes looking out toward the sea with a sanity very uncommon.

"She's hurting." Tarrant stated and Chessur nodded.

"Mourning, confused. Very uncertain of her belonging," Chessur paused and the Hatter turned to look at his old friend.

"Finish Chess."

"..of your intent." The Cheshire said quietly.

"Unsure of my intent? She's unsure I love her?" Tarrant asked going impossibly pale in the face and eyes.

"No! No, she's quite sure of your love. Just not if you'd take her as your wife, actually." Chessur told him firmly, before the Hatter's madness and emotion could tumble him away.

The Hatter's head jerked up and he stared at Chessur incredulously.

"She's what?" He fairly squeaked, and Chessur smiled almost sadly.

"Alice isn't sure you'd want to tie yourself to the 'burden' she's becoming. She already understands she's different." Chessur looked up and sighed, "The bonds between her and Underland are strong, almost too strong, too suddenly. She's frightened and unsure. Which is not surprising, truly."

They fell silent, both turning contemplative eyes out toward the valley.

* * *

End Part 1 of Chapter Seven


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